Jean-Philippe Rameau

c. 1683 – 12 September 1764

Jean-Philippe Rameau was a French composer and music theorist, the leading figure in French opera in the mid-eighteenth century. His Treatise on Harmony (1722) laid the theoretical foundations of modern tonal harmony, and operas such as Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Indes galantes made him the successor to Lully on the French stage.

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Life events

Born in Dijon, France
c. 1683

Jean-Philippe Rameau was baptized in Dijon on 25 September 1683, the son of an organist.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Traveled to Italy and worked as a provincial organist
c. 1701

After a brief trip to Milan around 1701, Rameau held organist posts in Avignon, Clermont, Paris, Dijon, and Lyon during his early career.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published the Traité de l'harmonie
1722

Rameau's Treatise on Harmony, published in 1722, established him as a major music theorist and laid the groundwork for modern harmonic theory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Settled permanently in Paris
c. 1722

Around 1722-1723 Rameau moved to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Marie-Louise Mangot
25 February 1726

On 25 February 1726 Rameau married the young singer and musician Marie-Louise Mangot, with whom he had four children.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Premiere of his first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie
1 October 1733

Hippolyte et Aricie premiered at the Paris Opéra on 1 October 1733, launching Rameau's operatic career at age fifty and provoking controversy between his admirers and partisans of Lully.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Premiere of the opéra-ballet Les Indes galantes
23 August 1735

Les Indes galantes, one of Rameau's most enduring stage works, was first performed at the Paris Opéra in 1735.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed composer of the king's chamber music
1745

In 1745 Louis XV granted Rameau the title of compositeur de la musique de la chambre du roi along with a royal pension.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Ennobled shortly before his death
1764

In 1764 Rameau was granted letters of nobility, only months before he died.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Paris
12 September 1764

Rameau died in Paris on 12 September 1764, less than two weeks before his eighty-first birthday.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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